It's as if she is the missing piece to every basketball puzzle. Either that or she is the Forrest Gump of women's hoops, always materializing at a critical juncture.

Maya Moore is a great talent who also has been in the right place at the right time â ¦ after time, after time. She is back practicing with the Lynx after returning from Spain, where she won a Spanish League championship and a Euroleague championship.

In her rookie season with the Lynx, of course, she helped capture the WNBA title. Before that, she won two NCAA titles at Connecticut and three high school state championships in Georgia.

Lucky? Well, there's plenty more where that came from. Moore was the only collegiate player on the gold medal-winning 2010 U.S. world championship team. She won a gold medal at the 2009 World University Games and gold medals at the 2006 under-18 world championships and 2007 under-19 world championships.

Seriously, she really doesn't know what it feels like to lose.

"Oh, I do," she insisted after Lynx practice on Saturday, May 5. "I just don't like to do it very often."

Moore is just 23, and she's won, well, everything. OK, almost everything. She doesn't have an Olympic gold medal - yet. But she will be competing for Team USA this summer. How many championships, titles and medals can a person win in such a short time?

"It doesn't just happen when you wake up. It comes from putting in the work every day," she said. "Yeah, I've been blessed with some great teams.

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Look at some of the teammates and coaching staffs that I've had. Since middle school I've been on some really great teams, whether that be in the state or in the country or in the world."

For the most part, that hasn't been an accident. Good teams want her because she makes them better. Her Ros Casares team in Valencia, Spain, is a good example. That has been a solid team for years, yet it hadn't been able to win the Euroleague title. Enter Moore and, presto, the trophy now resides in the port city on Mediterranean.

Ros Casares defeated archrival Rivas Ecopolis for the Euroleague title in Istanbul, Turkey. Check the Internet for highlights of that game and that tournament. You'll find firecrackers exploding on the court and general mayhem in the stands.

"I hadn't seen anything like it," Moore said with a laugh. "Usually (the fans) don't go to each other's away games. Now both were in the same arena. It was intense. The fans can bring things in â ¦ fireworks. It was crazy.

"When the World Cup comes around, people see all the soccer fans. It's like that with basketball, too, just inside. People bring musical instruments - anything to make noise."

Her first season in Europe was as successful as her inaugural season with the Lynx, after which she was named rookie of the year. A smooth forward, she averaged 13.2 points for Minnesota.

Moore says winning doesn't get old. In fact, the more you win, she noted, the more you have to keep your guard up. There can be no complacency. She insists on doing all the work all the time.

"I took some rest at the end of last season," she said. "I was able to let the body heal a little bit and do some strengthening things for my legs. Then I headed overseas for four months, and now I'm back.

"Hopefully, we can make it to October and win another championship, which is the goal. That's the plan."

The Lynx certainly have a chance. Last season, area fans really took notice. The team took on something of an underdog aura in the big picture of the Minnesota sports scene. After all, these gals work hard for a living, and they don't make millions of dollars. Plus, they win.

That's all well and good, but within the framework of women's basketball the Lynx are absolutely loaded. They may be underdogs in terms of being compared with mega-leagues such as the NFL and NBA, but in the WNBA, the Lynx are a powerhouse. And the rich got richer by drafting Devereaux Peters out of Notre Dame with the No. 3 overall pick.

So, yeah, they could win again.

"I was happy we won last year," Moore said. "But there's always something people can do to improve. I never get satisfied."